Almost $20 million in state grants have gone to 17 communities in Minnesota to expand broadband and make the case to legislators (and the general public) that such investments are wise and have a valuable Return on Investment. I wanted to delve into each project a bit to help us follow the money as it gets deployed. (See other awardee posts.)
Mediacom, Pintar Road. Awarded $137,848 to provide broadband services to 122 unserved homes and businesses on the southwest edge of the city limits of Hibbing. The full cost of this project is $275,697; the remaining $137,849 in matching funds (50 percent) will be provided by a private investment made by Mediacom.
Community and Economic Development Impact: Residents will be able to access the latest telemedicine innovations and will be able to telecommute. Existing commercial accounts that currently contract with Mediacom will be able to expand their telecommuting employee bases by leveraging the broadband services made available to their employees’ homes.
Entry costs for advanced services will be lowered for all businesses as a result of this project’s extension of service. It will also provide for future public-private partnerships with St. Louis County by leveraging the expanded fiber optic network.
Hibbing and the Iron Rage have been thinking about broadband – fiber specifically – for a long time. Back in 2008, Hibbing stepped out of the Iron Range FiberNet initiative that was looking at how to deploy fiber. Hibbing’s move may have been the end of that project. At least one vocal resident (Aaron Brown) has been telling us the story of life without broadband ever since. Commercial providers have entered (or sustained) the market. AT&T entered the wireless market in the area in 2013. Mediacom upgraded services in 2013. Northeast Service Coop has laid fiber in Hibbing in 2012. SO a lot has been happening with deployment.
Just to help track progress, here are some recent stats on St Louis County:
On broadband (Connect MN final stats from 2014):
- Household Density: 12.4
- Number of Households: 84,783
- Percentage serviced (without mobile): 62.86%
- Percentage serviced (with mobile): 80.18%
Census quick facts (from 2013):
- Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2009-2013: $137,500
- Per capita money income in past 12 months (2013 dollars), 2009-2013: $45,517
- Persons below poverty level, percent, 2009-2013: 16.4%
- Private nonfarm establishments, 2012: 5,371
- Private nonfarm employment, 2012: 84,561